Regular laptops good for gaming

What makes agaming laptopa gaming laptop? Typically it means a slightly bulkier design, some more powerful internal hardware, and often gamer styling in the form of an aggressive shell, RGB LEDs, and enhanced cooling. But you dont need any of that to play games.

If you buy amid-range laptopwith decent hardware, it should be just as good at playing games as an entry-level budget gaming laptop. You just might need to make some sacrifices to the types of games you play, or the settings you run them at.

This can save you money, but youll need to be smart about the type of laptop you buy and the sorts of games you play. Youll need to focus on the specifications that matter. You dont need tonnes of storage space or heaps of memory. You dont need a 4K screen or a backlit keyboard. What you do need is a great processor and a reasonable graphics chip.

Onboard graphics can do more than you think

One thing that gaming laptops and gaming desktops usually have in common, is the inclusion of a dedicated graphics chip or card. Thats what gives them the extra muscle to render pretty games at higher resolutions and faster frame rates. But as long as the laptop youre looking to buy has a relatively recent Intel processor or one of AMDs new APUs (Accelerated Processing Unit), then the onboard graphics can be surprisingly capable without a dedicated chip.

That opens up a world of gaming potential if you stick to indie games, esports titles, or older AAAs. Blizzards incredibly popular hero-based FPS,Overwatch, requires just an Intel HD 4400 GPU a graphics core found in some laptops that are upwards of five years old. Any new Intel laptop with a Core i3, or Core i5 CPU will be far more capable than that and will easily playOverwatchat low settings.

Theres still a lot of games to choose from

If you cant quite afford a laptop with that sort of hardware or youre not an FPS fan, dont fret, there are plenty of other options out there.Hearthstoneis a fantastic living card game also from Blizzard, and its specifications are even lower than that ofOverwatch.

Other popular games that are more than playable with onboard graphics includeCounter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, DotA 2, Rocket League and theHalf Lifeseries.

Outside the realm of AAA games and esports games, there are some gorgeous independent games that look beautiful and run really well without a hefty graphics processor behind them.Dont Starveis a quirky survival game with a unique style;FTL: Faster than Lightis a challenging spaceship management action game;Into the Breachis a chess-like game from the same developer asFTL, and this writer managed to get the always-punishingDarkest Dungeonrunning on a four-year-old, entry-level laptop with little difficulty.

Even our cheapest laptop, the Chillblast Prestige, with the base i5 processor, can average 60fps in Counter Strike at low settings. You dont have to break the bank to begin your gaming experience.UserBenchmarkis a great website to work out your potential FPS in popular games.

Making the most of your new laptop

One of the best parts of being a PC gamer, whether on a high-end desktop or a non-gaming laptop, is that there are typically a plethora of in-game settings you can tweak and software improvements you can make, to improve how a game looks or performs. Whether you have onboard graphics or an entry-level graphics chip like the Nvidia MX150, you can tweak your gaming experience to enhance it to your tastes.

Updating your drivers

Updating your drivers is a great first port of call. Keeping your entire system up to date is a good idea in general, but it can really improve your gaming performance if you havent done it in a while. If you have onboard graphics, making sure that Windows is up to date is the best way to get the most from your GPU. If you have a dedicated graphics processorfrom NvidiaorAMD though, youll want to download the latest drivers from their respective website.

Tweaking in-game settings

Tweaking in-game settings can also make a big difference in how a game looks and performs. If you are playing a slower-paced game with beautiful vistas, you can afford to turn on more graphics options and run the game at closer to your laptops native resolution. Things like view distance, texture quality, post-processing effects, and foliage levels can all make a game look much prettier. Do keep your FPS in mind though, as you dont want to dip below 30 as an average or the game will start to feel very choppy.

We would caution to stay away from effects like anti-aliasing, which can be very resource-intensive, and vertical sync or V-Sync. While that latter option is a necessity if you see lots of screen-tearing, it too can really sap your systems resources so its one to only use if you really need to.

If youre playing something more fast-paced or competitive, frames per second are arguably more important than visual quality. To improve that youll want to turn off any advanced visual effects, especially motion blur, and turn shadow and texture quality to low. It wont make the game look great, but if youre going head to head against someone, having a faster game can help you play faster too, and that can make all the difference.

If you dont want to sacrifice, get a gaming PC

As much as gaming on non-gaming hardware is great and a perfectly viable way to enjoy some of your favourite games, they cant give you the whole experience. If youre trying to playThe Witcher IIIon a laptop at the minimum specifications, it simply wont be as immersive as it would be on agaming PCwith the right hardware for the job. If youre trying to go up against the professionals onLeague of Legendson a screen thats limited to 60 FPS, you are at a competitive disadvantage.

While a gaming PC isnt needed to play games, if you want to experience the true beauty of their virtual worlds, a more powerful laptop or (better yet) a gaming PC, can make a world of difference. Youll see higher quality textures, realistic shadows, faster frame rates for fluid motion, smoothed edges, life-like faces, and more.

Your wallet will thank you

Not only do you get greater performance with a dedicated gaming PC, but its much more affordable too. A gaming PC that can play all of the latest games at the highest settings at 1080p or 1440p will cost you well under £2,000. A gaming laptop or non-gaming laptop that can do the same will cost at least that much and likely much more.

PCs are also infinitely upgradeable, letting you improve your CPU, graphics card, memory, or monitor for years to come without buying a new system. There are only a handful of laptops in the world gaming or otherwise that can do that, and even then its an expensive process.

A gaming PC delivers the ultimate gaming experience. Yes, you can play games on a non-gaming laptop. But if you want to play your games in the way they were designed for, you want a gaming PC. Check out this article for a more in-depth explanation of whether a laptop or PC is better for gaming.

Make sure to get in touch with our expert Chilblast staff if youre looking to purchase a gaming system (laptop or PC), and theyll be more than happy to lead you in the right direction!

More resources:

If you are wondering why they cost so much, check out this article that examines why gaming laptops are so expensive!

Check out this article that details what to look for if you want to buy a cheap gaming laptop!